Folks,
for a while, I’ve wondered why the courts allow the compounding of 498A cases when 498A is NON-COMPOUNDABLE. Justice Dhingra offers an explanation in this judgment. This is a judgment from 2007. Here is an excerpt:

“The Courts have been allowing quashing of proceedings under Section 498A /406 Indian Penal Code, 1860 because in such cases the FIRs are result of matrimonial discord and more often the effort of the Court is that either the parties should settle for a compromise for living together or they should part their company peacefully, so that, there is peace and amity in the society. In cases resulting from matrimonial discord, the Court is not dealing with criminal but dealing with broken marriages and broken homes where resort is more often made to Sections 498A/406 Indian Penal Code, 1860 to teach lessons to the family of husband or to take revenge”

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By makeing it compoundable, the doors are opened to extortion and blackmail in the name of settlements. As can be varified, more number of cases are withdrawn after the extortions, and the cases which are fought till end, only 1 to 2 percent of the accused are convicted. And in none of the cases the wife is accepted back by her in-laws. It is proved beyond doubt that the section has failed in its goal and used more as a tool to settle score with in-laws and innocent husbands, rather than serving to unite them.
The sections should be made gender nutral,
Stringent actions should be taken against people misusing it,
It should be made non-cognisible,
Other relatives of the spouse should not be arrested till proved guilty,
Giver of dowry should be also required to adhere to laws,
Income tax return and proof should be demanded to substantiate the amount claimed in the complaint.

Acknowledging India’s respect for its culture and social ethics, one can guess that India enjoys a low divorce rate. But it is more surprising to know that the divorce rate in India ranks lowest among all the countries of the world. Statistics shows that only 1 out of 100 Indian marriages end up to a divorce which is quite low in comparison to America’s 50% of marriages turning into breakups. The rate of divorce in India was even low in the previous decade, where only 7.40 marriages out of 1,000 marriages were annulled. The divorce rate in Indian villages is even lower in caparison to urban India.

The following figures will help you to get an idea about the divorce rate in India with respect to global divorce rate.
• Sweden – 54.9%
• United States – 54.8%
• Russia – 43.3%
• United Kingdom – 42.6
• Germany – 39.4%
• Israel – 14.8%
• Singapore – 17.2%
• Japan – 1.9%
• Sri Lanka – 1.5%
• India – 1.1%
Even though India still boasts of that nearly hundred percent of the marriages are a success, rapid urbanization and awareness of various rights are now instigating the divorce rate to shoot up. Empowerment of women has initiated the dissolution of marriage in urban areas as financially educated women are now open to the option of ending the relationship rather than to bear life long abuses silently. The campaigns on gender equality are now giving rise to ego clashes between the husband and wife, especially if the wife too is the bread earner of the family.
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Some Interesting Stats On Arrests Of Women

In 1930, the British govt arrested 17,000 women for their involvement in the Dandi Yatra (Salt March).
During 1937 to 1947 (10 Years), they arrested 5,000 women involved in the freedom struggle.
From 2004 to 2006, the govt of India arrested 90,000 women of all ages under 498A. On the average, 27,000 women per year are being arrested under this flawed law. These are stats from the NCRB.

Disclaimer:

The family of the writer was tortured by the Indian Police in an attempt to extort over a $100,000 by holding them in custody for over a week. The police, in cahoots with the magistrate and the PP, did this due to the ridiculous allegations made in a 498A case by his embittered ex-wife. She filed the case years after he and his family had last seen her. Thousands of 498A cases are filed each year in India by women seeking to wreak vengeance on their husbands and in-laws. Enormous sums are extorted from intimidated families implicated in these cases by corrupt Indian police officers and elements of the Indian judiciary. The author and his family haven't bribed any public official nor have they given in to the extortion. This blog aims to raise awareness of due process in India. The content of this blog constitutes, opinions, observations, and publicly available documents. The intent is not to slander or defame anyone or any institution and is the manifestation of the author's right to freedom of expression – with all the protections this right guarantees.